MI vs KKR IPL 2018 Match Report: Hardik Pandya’s all-round show keeps Mumbai alive

Thanks to MoM Hardik Pandya’s (35* and 2/19) all-round performance, Mumbai Indians (MI) beat Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by 13 runs in the 37^th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018 to stay alive in the tournament.

Mumbai Indians got a blazing start after they were asked to bat on a hot and humid day. Suryakumar Yadav (59) and Evin Lewis (43) fired on all the cylinders to increase the temperature at the Wankhede Stadium as they smashed 91 runs in just 9.2 overs. But from 103 in the first 11 overs, Mumbai could add only 78 off their last nine as they finished with 181/4 in 20 overs. MI slowed down considerably after the first wicket and it seemed they were 20 runs short of a par total. Hardik gave the Mumbai innings the late impetus they needed badly.

Catch all the highlights from the game here.

Chasing a stiff target of 182, KKR lost their openers cheaply. But then, Robin Uthappa (54) and Nitish Rana (31) added 84 runs for the third wicket at a brisk pace to keep Kolkata in the hunt. Uthappa made full use of the dropped chance by Mayank Markande on 4 off Hardik Pandya. At one stage, he looked like taking the game away from Mumbai but redemption from Markande started bringing MI back into the contest. Soon after, Hardik delivered again with the ball as he cut short Rana’s innings with a short ball. After that, Andre Russell and Sunil Narine couldn’t step up the gas as Dinesh Karthik (36*) fought a lone battle towards the end. With some excellent bowling at the death, Mumbai restricted KKR to 168/6 in 20 overs.

Find the full match scorecard here.

Uthappa was going berserk before Markande deceived him with a flighted leg-spinner that spun away from him as he sliced it to long off where he was caught. So his dismissal becomes the turning point of the match as he was threatening to finish the match in a canter.

Jasprit Bumrah’s wicket of Andre Russell is the best dismissal of the match. To contain such a powerful hitter, Bumrah dug in a short one which hurried onto the batsman, Russell still went for the pull and top edged it. Krunal Pandya went running backwards from short fine leg and took a brilliant diving catch ahead of deep square leg.

In the scorching heat and humidity of Mumbai, Suryakumar Yadav put on a splendid batting display with some audacious shots and top scored in the game with 59 off 39. He is the batsman of the match.

Hardik Pandya’s two crucial wickets make him the bowler of the match. His first wicket of Shubman Gill came when the youngster was looking in good touch. And Nitish Rana’s wicket came at a time when Mumbai wanted another quick wicket after Uthappa’s dismissal to come back in the match.

Both teams play next against each other, this time at KKR’s home ground at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Wednesday.

The outcome of this match hasn’t changed the positions of both teams on the points table. With two more points, MI are still at the fifth spot with 8 points whereas KKR are on the third spot with 10 points.

Check out the updated points table here.